The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-06-30


giving heiself the .'black eye.'
sH1Hrs ron TEArHERs RsATTEaD1Ha NOR
itAL SCHOOLS.
Just as ne we're about to make some ONT.
Guegestions TO the teachers relative to
tfie:importa,nce Of preparing themselves
& for getting all possible good from the
1nstitn.e 10 be held, at Williamson, our
eyes fell upon the following article which
J expresses our thoughts much more clear
~ aud strongly than ne could hope to. do
! it. Itsis d ken from TIE School Teacher,
4 bright educational journal published
at Winston, n. q:
Every year numbers of our teachers
attend the various Normal Schools and
Teachers, Institutes of our State, and, at
the close Of the term these teachers 60
totheir homes and to their schools with
al 5undefned feeling that they have been
guilty 81 saaandering both time and
money !; and nine times out OF ten such
/ teachers have done both; for 8 jumble
Of notes, q hazy recollection Of eloquent
lectures and addresses, and q Hghteaed
nurss are allthe substantial benefits ~
derived from a months solourn at q
School for Teachers, though tho school
], ms NAV have been excellent and unsurpassed
for good opportunities for improvement
on the part of teachers.
aEyidenfly there is something wrong
when q teacher leaves an educational
meeting without feeling stronger in every
way than before he went; and that many
! have felt Just as,I have indicated I have
3 do reason TO doubt; hence, in this article,
hope 10 show, briefly, how teachers may
derive greater benefit from our Normal
Schools by systematic following of the
work presented.
ssIn the. fsti place, then, it Is necessary
4 that the teacher should decide definitely
before hand uhy he attends a Normal
School then, what course Of instruction
she shall take. And just here is q vital
point teach ers Try: to take all the courses
! presented, and fail as they might have
expected, If they. had stopped to think q
moment. Hsying determined upon what
subject he most needs assistance, what
methods he wishes specially to see ap-
plied, let the teacher look sharply to his
]. outline and folIowsit rigidly to the end.
s.since an the Normal instruction is
mainly Of the pouring in process as
Page and Abbott have SO aptly styled it,
9the teacher must be extremely cautious
3 that he does, not ailow himself to be
nfilled up to the brim' with 'bilge-w water
nice sense of discrimination must
5Iobtainor the passive recipient will be
totally swanped with methods and
theories which are wholly worthless to
him, unless he can properly receive and
& ssssiimilate them. Be slave to no mans
& theory Or method simply because that
: man has 81 great reputation. Be sure
! thss whatever may: be presented if it
does not appeal to your idea of the fitness
of things, that much is worthless to you,
however valuable it may be to others.
ssThere is one thing that I have
noticed among teachers at Normal
Schools, and that is q lack ;of proper
Note Books. We find all sorts and
{ sizes Of note books, from the back of
sd envelope to the Daily Journal of
ths msrchan aud teachers 'scribble'
4 TdoH1 any and every thing from jottings
on How TO Prevent Boys from Whisper:
ing, to notes on The Plan Of Saliva.
tion, BY an eloquent divine. Now, notes
kept in shissway are worse than worthless
are serat;ious.
.A proper note book should be q folio
Of about 200 pages, sx1o inches. Index
I the book after the manner of a book
keepers Ledger, allottlDg to each suoJect
of importanceten or twelve pages. For
instance, under "a we would write,
Arithmetics PIP. :1-15; and let every
I note concerning the subject Of arithme-
tis, primary or advanced, be placed on
these pages. And so on with any other
subjects. Under Miscellaneous we
would make not Of anything out of the
regular course, g. g., peculiar express
i sions, references to books, criticisms on
lectures, comments on the presentation
of any topic in the course, etc. This
! plan gives method to note taking, makes
the notes valuable because available for
future reference, which should be the
primal object of taking notes at all.
md there is another thing. Too
many teachers attend our Normal
Schools, take notes on all proceedings
they are religiously punctual 10 attend
arce upon every exercise -.and, after the
Normal closes, these teachers put their
a waajl stocked note books, away into their